Ramen - Tamashii Ramen Hong Kong 魂

Mum and dad are eating out a lot these days because JieJie J is on her 3-week home leave. So we get to write a lot more. So lets take a look at Tamashii 魂.

Mum and dad love their noodles and would even dare to boast they have tried more noodles in more corners of the world than most. One of the highlights for their many trips to Japan was to try out ramen and udon in those places. Tamashii's bowl of ramen must rank amongst the top of anything they have had. The shop's ambience is perhaps the most nostalgically Japanese in Hong Kong. If one is forced to pick between Butao 豚王 and Tamashii, the latter is their current top pick. Before we carry on with their praises for the place, you should know what Tamashii is NOT about:

Big portion - smaller than Butao and probably small than Ippudo

Super rich broth - lighter than Butao, similar to Ippudo. But the soup broth imparts a subtler flavor then either.

Queue at 11:30am, half-hour before opening.

A place to chat over a bowl of ramen - while nobody drives you away, but you feel bad occupying the seat while all the poor souls queueing outside breathing exhaust fumes from the constantly passing traffic going up Canal Street Flyover. Go to Ippudo for a more hospitable place to wait in line.

Feeling healthy - even though all the ramen come with small bits of veg like, sugar snaps, bamboo shoots  and the pork broth is lighter; the one piece of char siu will send your cholesterol reading through the roof. The worst thing is after the first piece melted in your mouth, you will be itching for a second helping to put even more load onto your pumping heart. Not sure if this is the feeling that the name of the shop is referring to.

Tai Keku 太極 - with black squid sauce

Tamashii 魂 

Hidama 火魂

Address - 18C Sharp Street West, Causeway Bay (side street behind South Pacific Hotel)

Feel free to check out where else we have written about eating noodles and ramen in Hong Kong and elsewhere in the world. tag - noodles

You might like to read this "Lifestyle" article in the Standard with more background. You get greeted by the broad bright smile from Lily Chen, the owner, when you enter the venue.
http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=36&art_id=119783&sid=35447828&con_type=3&d_str=20120217


Check this out to see what "tamashii 魂" mean in Japanese. 
http://japanese.about.com/od/wordoftheday/p/Word-Of-The-Day-Tamashii.htm